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FCC Rejects Blackout Rules
Today the Federal Communications Commission eliminated its sport blackout rules, which prevented cable and satellite television providers from showing sporting events that were blacked out on a local station. It's common practice in the NFL to black out football games locally if the stadium didn't sell enough tickets. The ruling now removes government protections for the NFL's policies (the NFL can continue to black out local broadcasts). The FCC's decision is based on "significant changes" to the industry over the 40 years since the rules were adopted. Television has replaced ticket sales as the primary source of revenue, and the NFL is incredibly popular. They also don't think there's any chance the NFL will move its games to pay-per-view.
I sincerely hope that they go cable only like the NFL threatened to do. The only thing that can stop the NFL and the misplaced US hero worship is their own greed.
The comfort of a big screen and my own snacks is all I need.
You can watch European soccer online.
I dunno...I still live on classic, and I don't expect to leave, but popping into beta for a second it's starting to seem pretty usable. It's not without issues (why do I even have a moderate button if I don't have mod points), but I can do what I came here for.
What do they think what NFL Sunday Ticket is? Fans are essentially paying to watch their team when they live out of market.
This doesn't seem like much of a surprise with the FCC chairman being a former big cable lobbyist.
Wait, Why is there a story about football on a site that is news for nerds? Move it to the News for Jocks site.... Wait, can they read?
This is the one and only reason I still pay for TV. Virtually all my regularly scheduled programming I watch comes from the internet, and have for many years. But between the NFL, NHL, MLB, and NCAA basketball/football, the only way to get more than a couple games a year via broadcast networks is to pay for cable/satellite. For the teams I watch, I would need online access to the ESPNs, WGN, Comcast Sports Net, NBC Sports Network, Big Ten Network, and the broadcast networks to see 90% of the games. For those networks that do have online components, you need to login with your cable/satellite account to get access. Even if a network or two added an online only subscription, I would still be stuck with the rest of the networks.
It always amazes me how obnoxious TV is when I actually watch sporting events live, since that is the only content I watch on my TV that still has ads. Maybe one day I'll just decide it's not worth it and stop watching sports.
Lot of good it looks like it will do...only two games were blacked out as of last year...this seems like fairly inconsequential news.
The NFL can still black games out. I guess they'll just have to negotiate the rules with the cable networks? If that's how it goes then games will still get blacked out all the time because the networks won't give up the NFL over that rule. Maybe I'm reading this wrong.
If they didn't regulate anything, you'd be eating toxic food, driving cars which burst into flames, and using products which are outright dangerous.
Only a moron would believe that without regulations corporations wouldn't just screw consumers every chance they get.
But, hey, I hear you can probably buy some cheap baby formula from China which has melamine in it ... I'm sure it will only make you a little sick.
The 'free market' doesn't exist, and doesn't solve problems like this.
You're an idiot, who only dimly understands the world around you.
What's worse is that the people at the stadium still have to deal with the ads. I grew up watching junior hockey because there was a rink across the street from my house. Didn't realized it until I was older and I went to my first NHL game that they had breaks for commercials in the middle of the period. You pay $100 for a ticket. You don't want to sit around with nothing to do because some TV network you aren't watching wants to play some commercials. It really breaks up the game. For something that's fast paced like hockey it really takes away from the enjoyment when they stop playing so they can play some commercials.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
You can watch MLB, NHL, or NBA, if you don't mind paying for it.
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Major League Baseball has one of the most draconian and bizarre blackout policies even conceived - and it's not mentioned in that document at all. So I am wondering how a ruling about the NFL's policies is being interpreted as "FCC rejects blackout rules".
Oh, and MLB also has an exemption from the Sherman Antitrust Act.
#DeleteChrome
NHL GameCenter. $160/season. All devices.
http://gamecenter.nhl.com/nhlg...
There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
This is why soccer (European football) is so much better to watch. No commercials. The game plays until the time runs out.
Instead of a 1 hour game of football (American), it runs to well over twice that amount, not including the pre and post pontifications.
Here's the way pro football works. Flip the coin to decide who kicks off. Go to commercial. Come back from commercial and have kick off. Four seconds elapse then play is ended. Go to commercial.
Have first three plays of game. Go to commercial. Punt ball away or get second series. Rinse and repeat.
We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
The NFL is incredibly popular because this world is full of stupid fucktards
Wow.
I take it nothing you do in your life could ever be viewed as "stupid" by anyone then. Good luck with that. You gotta be one of the coolest nerds that ever lived.
Regulation is why the country is so stable. Yes it has ups and downs, but nothing compared to other countries that don't have regulation, or enforcement there of.
"I am from the government"
the most dangerous words in the English language are "I am from the government"
These NFL regulations made sense initially, but should have ended a decade age.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
You can watch MLB, NHL, or NBA, if you don't mind paying for it.
I suspect that all of these sports have the same rules (which I know MLB has) that you cannot watch your local team live over the Internet...you must watch them on local TV (either OTA or the regional sports network).
Note that this means that if you live in Chicago and buy the MLB.tv package because you are a fan of the Cleveland Indians, you will not be able to watch over the Internet when Cleveland visits either Chicago team, or vice-versa. In some years, that would mean that out of 162 games, as many as 25 will not be available to you.
Okay, our team is unpopular, how we going to fix this?
.
I know boss, lets prevent people from watching the games.
But won't that mean we'll have less fans in the long run?
No, we figure our team is just going to lose and we don't want anyone to see it
Genius! Black out the game!
God spoke to me
"They also don't think there's any chance the NFL will move its games to pay-per-view."
ROTFLMAO.
What are they smoking? The NFL will go PPV, ASAP.
Book it.
In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.
no one said gov't regulation was a "cure-all" for anything!
YOU said that...
everyone not an anarchist is in favor of government regulation, whether their rhetoric matches their functional beliefs or not
it's merely a question of **what kind of regulation**...there is no debate about the inherent existence of government regulation...yes libertards/GOP'ers use that language, but when they **vote** their actions don't match their rhetoric...they vote to give government money but no accountability because of corruption
that's it...a true anarchist is the only person who can claim to be truly 'anti-regulation'...and an anarchist isn't worth debating about the function of government, b/c their default is always to abolish government completely...b/c they're a true anarchist
everyone else is just debating how the government should regulate...GOP'ers and "libertarians" are most dishonest on this point
Thank you Dave Raggett
"If they didn't regulate anything, you'd be eating toxic food, driving cars which burst into flames, and using products which are outright dangerous."
Not me. I wouldn't buy that food or those cars. Instead, I would have depend on a company's reputation and their fear of the courts. I wonder if you really think that all food was toxic before the FDA existed.
"Only a moron would believe that without regulations corporations wouldn't just screw consumers every chance they get."
Sort of like the moron that thinks all history started in 1950 or something.
"But, hey, I hear you can probably buy some cheap baby formula from China which has melamine in it ... I'm sure it will only make you a little sick."
That is very scary, and obviously justifies anything you want it to. (I'd throw in 'think of the children' next time)
"The 'free market' doesn't exist, and doesn't solve problems like this."
If you have free people, and more than one place to buy something at, then you have a free market. No one ever claimed that the free market solved crooks, charlatans, and melamine pushers.
"You're an idiot, who only dimly understands the world around you."
Nah, I think you're the idiot, to equate the FCC allowing local stations to show football games with poisoned baby formula as justification for your socialism.
I know I am feeding a troll, but well, think of the children (who may be reading this).
Noah Haders stated his opinion is that the government shouldn't try to regulate things "they only dimly understand", but with the inclusion of saying the words "I am from the government" are "the most dangerous words in the english language", revealed his true view is that ALL regulation is bad.
The AC responded with examples of things where, without some regulation, the population would suffer. Without regulation we would be wearing asbestos-laced pajamas and getting our daily fiber (via sawdust filler) from your local hamburger stand. At no point did the AC poster claim, or even imply, that regulation can fix everything. He was simply responding to the poster who wrote that regulation is always bad by showing that the free market drives businesses to do what makes them the most money, not what is good for the people (sometimes these do overlap, but often don't), and the population can therefore benefit from regulation.
Yeah. There's a pending class action lawsuit over MLB.tv's restrictions: http://ballparkdigest.com/2014.... I'm curious whether the FCC rule change might have any bearing on the case, but I get the impression that it won't.
Exactly why American Football never appealed to me, even as a child. That and most sportscasters and commentary are obnoxious. Can't stand commentary continuously announced over any event.
True. Somalia doesn't regulate their cricket matches, which makes the game absolutely incomprehensible.
My kingdom for a mod point.
Prove anything by multiplying Huge Number times Tiny Number
"I would have depend on a company's reputation and their fear of the courts"
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah..
Except without regulations companies would just buy their way out of the courts. Oh wait...
So no, two corporate billionaires selling to individuals is nothing like a viable market.
Note too that he was a proponent of strong regulation and an opponent of corporate charters except where absolutely unavoidable. If you buy into the market, you should naturally oppose corporations and seek to minimize them.
As for the FDA, it came into existence because there were poisonous foods and drugs on the market and people were dying.
If you care to call for better regulation, I'm with you. I would love to see the FDA abolished with a ground up replacement, among many other reforms.
As for the current topic, I am glad the FCC i butting out. That was not an appropriate regulation.
Actually I have mod points at the moment. But instead of modding him down, I answered. Yes, I'm naive, and in hindsight regret throwing 'moron' back at him. I'm really interested in the discussion.
Now the parent of AC, Noah, made a silly statement about all regulation or something, but just because I take AC to task, doesn't mean I agree with Noah. Noah, you sounded like you meant all regulation. Meat packing houses? No inspections? Not even a drive-by? A letter asking the estimated amount of rat feces in the average hotdog? Nothing? Seriously?
Anyway, AC's response seems pretty typical; that we would all die without the FDA, because corporations want to kill us for profit. The FDA (and/or FTC, FCC, FAA, ...) is our only hope to live good lives.
Or more concisely, The amount of their power is equal to our quality of life.
Where do you even start with that?
The Somalia trope is usually trotted out. This deliberately conflates the government's legitimate function of protecting the rights of individuals, protection of property and enforcement of contracts, with the counterproductive creation of regulations, monopolies and participation as a player and referee in the private domain.
Prove anything by multiplying Huge Number times Tiny Number
Can the FCC eliminate broadcasting professional and collegiate sports entirely?
Fuck that shit, and fuck having to pay for 8 dedicated channels of it on my cable subscription when I don't watch that fucking shit.
I'm willing to tolerate a little bit of government if it means I don't have to conduct my own testing of every food item, car, or baby toy that I buy. No I don't trust the free market enough... I know damn well that reputation vs. cost savings is a balancing act to maximize profits. I expect no more and no less from a corporation; that is what they are designed to do. It is essentially government regulation that give corporations the framework to exist at all.
If a company can deny, spin, cover-up, and pay off to protect their reputation then they will. It would be a conflict of interest for a corporation to always put utmost safety ahead of profits. Government isn't perfect either, but it isn't inherently a conflict of its own interest to protect my health and safety.
Just out of curiosity, can you see if anyone has replied to or used mod points on your own posts on your post history page? That was a big sticking point for me. It kills the discussion if you can't easily tell that someone's attempting to discuss things with you.
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